


a bit more than that

by isloremipsumafterall



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-03
Updated: 2015-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-07 10:12:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4259466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isloremipsumafterall/pseuds/isloremipsumafterall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where magic never really left and technology barely rose Jemma is determined to find out what makes potions tick; she just wasn't expecting the sudden mermaid that takes an interest in her or the way she starts to feel for this mermaid back in equal measure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a bit more than that

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JackEPeace](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackEPeace/gifts).



When Jemma was little she had been fascinated with the potions that the local witch sold at the market; they sparkled in the sunlight, enchanting and charming her but most of all they piqued her curiosity.

 

She wanted to know what made them work, why did parts of a lizard mix with a bats wing and make the cure for common ailments, what was the logic behind all of it?

 

“It’s magic,” They told her.

 

“It’s more.” She insisted, so much so that when the choice came to decide on her major in school Jemma picked potions and excelled at it beyond anything else.

 

With her mixing and matching and testing of new ingredients to see what worked and what didn’t she’d become known in the community as a brilliant witch; not a title she chose for herself and she’d certainly never wear the old pointy hat that witches in centuries past wore that Fitz had given her as a joke one year but it was her title nonetheless.

 

And she was determined to figure out more once her classes were over, setting up shop in the markets and selling her potions to those who could afford it and giving it away to those who could not.

 

It was one market day that a woman set up shop across from her, selling shells that shimmered and sparkled with the most unnameable colours.

 

She’d never used shells like those before.

 

As soon as she got the chance to slip away from her own stall and step across the road to the woman’s to buy the shells the woman was already packing up.

 

“Excuse me, sorry to bother you, I was just hoping to buy some of your shells before you left.”

 

The woman eyed her but didn’t stop in her packing, “I’m afraid I’m in a hurry to return home. Perhaps next week.”

 

Jemma bit her lip, certain she could wait and yet…

 

“Please I’d like to use them for a potion I’m creating and well it’s not time sensitive I’d like to just get the idea out before I’m distracted and-”

 

“Another time,” The woman interrupted her.

 

Jemma’s shoulders fell, ideas of using shell substitutes instead of egg shells in some potions to see the reaction fizzling from her mind.

 

“I could tell you where I got them however,” The woman relented, seeing her saddened expression, “Though the ones that wash up on shore are hardly as good and you can’t go into the water least the current drag you away.”

 

That begged the question on how the older woman got her shells but Jemma was too excited by the idea of finding a place with such beautiful shells to care, maybe there was also coral that washed ashore that she could use, or stones smoothed and rounded perfectly by the water, or…

 

The woman smiled crookedly and leaned in close to her whisper her secret.

 

~~

 

“Spectacular idea really,” She muttered to herself, “Sift through hot sand in the hot sun and find no shells and go home with a sunburn.”

 

Jemma would have fallen onto the overly hot sand and sulked for a bit but the idea of anything more than her feet touching the hot sand had her wincing already.

 

She looked over to the ocean in front of her, hoping for even the tiniest breeze, but the waves were calm and the water crystal clear except for a few waves here and there that must have been caused by fish too close to the shore.

 

It was tempting to swim in it but only the woman’s warning stopped her.

 

“Well,” Jemma sighed, “Perhaps another day.”

 

She took one last look around and tucked a now sweat slicked strand of hair back, turning away from the ocean to walk back to her bicycle and go home.

 

As she did however there was the smallest explosion of sand in front of her, spraying her with the warm sand and making her cough at the dust that rose.

 

She took a cautious step forward, her hand edging towards the potion on her belt that would melt anything in seconds if she was truly in danger, but stopped once she saw a shell in front of her.

 

A beautiful shell, cracked into two pieces from the impact of landing in the sand, but exactly what she was looking for.

 

She cradled it in her hands, inspecting the smooth shell and already thinking of the potions to try with it when another shell landed next to her, spraying more sand on her.

 

“What on earth,” Jemma whirled around back towards the ocean, blinking against the sun in trying to see where the shells were coming from.

 

Unlike last time she looked this time there were ripples in the water, the tiniest of waves spreading from certain areas and crashing against the shore.

 

From the corner of her eye she saw something flicker and turned towards it just in time to see another ripple and more waves, bubbles floating to the surface.

 

Her breath caught in her throat at the sudden idea of what it could be.

 

A mermaid. A creature notorious for shying away from the rest of the supernatural community; living far away at sea and hardly making any kind of appearance to the others.

 

And it had chosen to show itself to her.

 

Or at least, throw shells at her for some reason.

 

Jemma wet her dry lips, cracked from the sun, “Excuse me.”

 

There was no answer so she cleared her throat and tried again, “I’m sorry if I’m startling you but I just wanted to say thank you for the shells.”

 

She swept the second shell that was right next to her into her hands and held it up with a smile, waving it in case the mermaid was watching.

 

“So…thank you.” She finished rather quietly, a little embarrassed at yelling out into nothing at the moment.

 

The mermaid could have been long gone.

 

She smiled at the ocean one more time before turning to leave again when she heard a voice.

 

“What are you going to be doing with them?”

 

There was rock she had noticed earlier in the ocean, far enough from shore that no one sane would want to swim to it but close enough that she could hear the person who was suddenly hanging off of it.

 

Though person wasn’t quite the right word to use, not with the beautiful multicoloured tail that started from her hips where scales melded with tan skin and continued downwards; long brown hair gave her the semblance of modesty, swaying over her breasts that like pictures of mermaids of old weren’t covered by anything.

 

She kept getting stuck on where to look, even caught by the mesmerizing dark brown eyes that stared at Jemma with blatant curiosity.

 

Jemma remembered opening her mouth to say something but no words came out, completely caught up by the image before her.

 

The mermaid must have noticed the affect she was having, the tiniest of smirks on her face, and then she dove down into the water.

 

“No wait!” Jemma frantically looked around the ocean, trying to see if the mermaid would pop up again, she took a few steps closer until the water tickled her ankles and then a splash to her right alerted her to the mermaid’s presence; this time resting her head on top of her crossed arms on a different rock that was closer to the shore.

 

“I wouldn’t come in here if I were you.” The mermaid warned, “This water is for us only.”

 

Jemma looked down at the blue water that seemed innocuous enough, despite her not moving forward it had risen to her calf, threatening to swallow her whole if she had taken one more step.

 

She back tracked until she was on the hot sand again and looked at the mermaid who still watched her with playful eyes.

 

“Thank you for the warning,” Jemma smiled at her gratefully, “I was just here collecting shells, or I was hoping to, I didn’t see any until you threw them.”

 

The mermaid nodded lazily, “Most come here for shells, they don’t often wash on shore until night time. But what do you want them for?”

 

“For potions,” Jemma explained, “You see I’m trying to make my own potions to discover what it is that make different things more powerful in them and the reactions that occur and I realized that I hardly ever use anything from the ocean which seems like a misstep on my part as there’s so many things to use that can cause completely different potions than the ones I’m making of course they could just be less or more potent than regular ones but I suspect they’ll make something completely different anyway and-oh. You’re gone.”

 

Jemma frowned, biting her lower lip; her first encounter with another supernatural species that wasn’t on land and she’d blown it by boring them most likely.

 

She looked down at the shells in her hand sadly, “Well I suppose I got something.”

 

She’d have liked to talk to that mermaid more however, fretting and wondering if she should just return the shells to the ocean as some kind of apology to the other woman.

 

She hadn’t noticed how long she was taking in her worrying until the mermaid breached the water again, her arms full of shells; it took her some wiggling but she managed to get close enough to the shore that Jemma could just walk up and get them, presenting them to Jemma with a grin.

 

Jemma fell to her knees, water barely tickling them, opening her bag and staring at the shells and the mermaid in wonder.

 

“Thank you.” She said, voice tight with gratitude, “Looks like you’ve saved a lot of work today. If there’s anything you need…”

 

She trailed off, unsure what a mermaid would require.

 

“Are you coming back?” The mermaid asked her, leaning in with her hands on the squishy sand at the bottom of the ocean.

 

“I could.” Jemma blinked in surprise, “I was going to look for coral as well.”

 

“I can get you that.” The mermaid said excitedly, “Just come back tomorrow same time.”

 

Jemma nodded, a little dumbstruck when the mermaid beamed at her.

 

“I should get going,” The mermaid said, wiggling again to slip back into the deeper water, she looked over her shoulder at Jemma, “By the way I’m Skye.”

 

“Jemma.” She greeted back.

 

And with a smile and swish of her tail Skye was diving back into the ocean below.

 

~~

 

Skye was doing backstrokes in the water when she arrived that day, stopping once she noticed Jemma and swimming closer.

 

“So shells and coral that all you’re looking for?”

 

“Not really, anything that has oceanic properties for proper potion making.”

 

Skye scrunched up her face, which Jemma had to admit looked pretty cute, “Oceanic properties for proper potion making, oceanic properties for proper potion making, oceanic proper, rats.”

 

“What are you doing?” Jemma asked, bemused.

 

“Trying to say it ten times fast, bet you can’t.”

 

“So like a tongue twister, I think the last one I said as a child was actually she sells seashells by the seashore, fitting for my activities as of late.”

 

“She sells seashells – wait is that some kind of currency? Really?” Skye rested her back against a rock, “Do humans actually use it that way aside from potions?”

 

“Of course not, I mean, they might have at one point who knows, but not now a days. It’s just a tongue twister that’s all.” Jemma tilted her head at Skye, “Do you not know much about humans then?”

 

Skye shrugged, “You’re the first one I talked to, I just saw you on the shore looking for things and I was bored.”

 

“You talked to me because you were bored?” She might have felt mildly insulted by that if not for Skye grinning at her.

 

“Bored and you were beautiful. Still are. Do you know that when you saw that shell it was like you glowed, I guess that’s your magic right?”

 

Jemma snorted and was about to retort that magic was something more and unexplainable yet until you looked closer at it when she caught up with the first thing Skye said and just ended with, “Oh.”

 

Skye looked rather pleased with herself.

 

“You’re quite beautiful too Skye, it was the first thing I thought when I saw you.” Jemma told her honestly.

 

“I drew you in.” Skye crowed. “More than irresistible to sailors.” She winked.

 

“That’s sirens I believe and there’s no way you’re that, there’s no webbing between your fingers and your scaling looks different from every recorded mention of siren sightings.”

 

“Yeah but I can still sing.” Skye shot back.

 

“Yes but is it good?” Jemma teased her, plopping herself down on the beach and wiggling her toes into the wet sand where the water just touched.

 

“Don’t know, maybe you should be the judge of that.”

 

Coral lay forgotten as Jemma got lost in conversation with Skye long into the afternoon.

 

~~

 

“Jemma!” Skye waved from the water enthusiastically and Jemma couldn’t hide the smile it drew from her.

 

“Hello Skye.” She replied, bringing the picnic basket she had with her to the edge of the water.

 

Skye eyed it with interest before looking back at Jemma, “Ready to go?”

 

“I think so yes.” Jemma nodded and Skye began to take off, slowly to let Jemma follow her along the shoreline.

 

Finally they reached a spot where the water dropped, a cave where Jemma could sit on the rocks and Skye in the water right next to her.

 

“What’d you bring me this time?” Skye hoisted herself up a little on the rocks, reminding Jemma every time of an over excited puppy.

 

Jemma didn’t even have time to explain, Skye grasping the basket as she neared and peering into it.

 

“Chocolate!” They had discovered that Skye had a sweet tooth, since there weren’t many sweet things in the ocean Jemma had felt it was her duty to bring something to Skye every time she dropped by.

 

It was the least she could do for all of Skye’s help and companionship over the past month; Skye had been invaluable in helping her gather supplies and she was just about ready to try a new concoction out of the different varieties of seaweed Skye had gotten her.

 

“Yes yes, though I thought you might like some chicken salad first.”

 

Having been raised on fish her entire life Skye had an adventurous appetite when it came to trying to new dishes.

 

She hadn’t liked the lasagna Jemma brought last week but had enjoyed the burgers previously.

 

Skye eyed the chocolate but nodded.

 

“So did you need anything else? How’s the potion making going?” Skye asked as Jemma set the food out.

 

“Slowly, the shells seem to take a long time to break down in a cauldron even with all the other ingredients, I’ve had to set them to boil all week.”

 

She went on explaining her process to Skye who didn’t really understand but nodded in all the right places and told Jemma stories of things that happened in the sea, including taking out a shark.

 

“You did not take out a shark.” Jemma rolled her eyes, “Though I suppose that’s better than telling me you took out a giant squid.”

 

“Okay maybe the squid was an exaggeration.” Skye grinned unapologetically, lazily floating in the water after their meal. “But a shark I can manage, I just have to use my powers that’s all.”

 

That caught Jemma’s attention, “Powers?”

 

“Yeah,” Skye turned towards her, “Watch this.”

 

She looked away and raised one hand at the rocks on the far side of the cave and took a deep breath, nothing happened at first and then right before Jemma’s eyes the rocks turned to dust.

 

“See?” Skye looked back at her, grinning widely while Jemma sat there with her mouth open in shock.

 

“Skye that’s incredible! Are all mermaids like that?”

 

“No,” This seemed to make Skye a little self-conscious, twitching and fiddling with her hands. “Just me far as I can tell.”

 

“Well that just makes you more amazing.” Jemma told her, leaning closely towards the water, her hands resting on the edge of the rocks.

 

Skye dove down and came up for air right in front of her, their noses touching, her breath tickling Jemma’s face.

 

It was tempting to kiss her, looking at Skye whose eyes sparked with happiness and looked at Jemma with such fondness.

 

She wondered if Skye could see her own fondness for her echoed back in her eyes.

 

As it was though she slowly pulled away and Skye sank back into the water.

 

“It’s late,” Jemma coughed to break the awkwardness, “I should be going but…I’d like to see that again sometime Skye.”

 

Skye nodded eagerly, following her back to where she had started and waving an enthusiastic goodbye.

 

~~

 

Her dreams were filled with water, rising above her and making it hard to breath, crying out Skye’s name.

 

Soft lips touched hers, hands cradling her face and the need for air seemed to disappear, drifting in the water alongside Skye and trading slow kisses that set her nerves on fire.

 

She woke feeling more alive than she ever had before.

 

~~

 

“I’m thinking of moving into that house down there,” Jemma pointed to one on the far side of the beach. “I heard that no one wants to move into it because of the water that runs underneath the land and they’re worried the spell that the first witch cast will break and send them tumbling into the water.”

 

Skye raised an eyebrow at that, knowing how Jemma felt about just talking about spells; it wasn’t that she didn’t believe words had powers she just knew there had to be more to it.

 

Jemma shrugged at Skye’s unasked question, “I like the water.”

 

She saw Skye smile and if she closed her eyes could picture the curve of those lips against her own.

 

~~

 

“I brought you something for a ‘welcome to your new home’ type thing.” Skye was dragging a net with her, a net filled with starfish all sorts of colours and shapes; even the brilliant rainbow they created still didn’t match the colours in Skye’s tail however.

 

They had taken to meeting inside the cave instead of on the beach after Jemma winced one to many times at the too hot sand, she rested here with her feet in the water careful not to dive in least the ocean take her however.

 

As Skye swam closer she curled around Jemma, the fins of her tail brushing against Jemma’s foot and making her giggle at the unusual sensation.

 

Skye smiled up at her, her chest puffed up with pride in herself for that and it was times like those Jemma wished she wore something to cover that expanse of skin because every time it got her attention.

 

“Thank you Skye, I’ll have to take a look and see if different ones do different things, I suspect they’ll be a wonder in making potions for a common cold with it being in such a variety…”

 

Skye poked her in the leg, “Before you get off on too much a tangent help me get them onto the rocks.

 

Jemma bent over to grab for the net but at the last minute her balance tipped over, nearly sending her tumbling into the ocean except for Skye pushing her back up at the last minute, her hand still resting on Jemma’s chest and she looked terrified.

 

“Skye?” Jemma asked, reaching out to her and trailing her fingers lightly down Skye’s arm to signal she was okay.

 

“This ocean is for mermaids.” Skye said once she had regained some of her own balance. “Just…you have to be careful Jemma.”

 

“I understand Skye.” She reached Skye’s hand that rested on her chest still and slowly pulled it away, squeezing it lightly as she did.

 

Skye’s shoulders relaxed a little and quietly she pulled the net back over to Jemma and together they got it onto the ground of the cave.

 

“How is the new house?” Skye asked to break the silence between them.

 

“Quiet.” Jemma replied, tucking her hair back and looking down at Skye. Last week as she’d been unpacking she’d come up with an idea and had been excited to tell Skye about it; now however all she felt was trepidation in bringing it up.

 

Skye must have noticed her internal war and with a smirk playfully splashed water at Jemma with her tail.

 

“Skye! Quit it!” Despite her words Jemma was laughing.

 

“If you say so.” Skye said but with a mischievous look in her eye and a second later flopped back into the water, her tail spraying even more water Jemma’s way.

 

“Well if this is what you’re like to live with I’m not sure I want to ask you.” Jemma muttered, wringing out her t-shirt.

 

“What?” Skye was back at the edge of the pool in one quick pump of her tail, staring at Jemma.

 

“I…” Jemma bit her lip having just spilled something she hadn’t meant to, “I wanted to ask you Skye, I mean you can feel free to say no of course, but I was looking at the plans to my house and the underground cave below it and I realize that it leads back to the ocean and that with a few potions to melt the stones and those quaking powers of yours…I thought we could build you a tunnel into the basement of my house.”

 

She took a deep breath and met Skye’s eyes, “If you want to.”

 

Skye made a strange noise, almost a trilling noise and dove into the water only to come up again with a splash and repeated the motion in quick rapid succession.

 

“I take it that’s a yes?”

 

At the next round she did Skye hit the water fast and hard again, sending water Jemma’s way once more.

 

“Yes!” Skye laughed from her vantage point, “When do we start?”

 

“Anytime you’d like.”

 

“Then let’s start today.”

 

~~

 

It took them a month to make the tunnel but together they were able to achieve it and with everlasting refilling potion (made from seaweed) Jemma was able to keep the water level in the tunnel constant so it never sunk or overflowed into her basement.

 

The only problem now was Skye coming and going as she pleased meant she liked to try to surprise Jemma, popping out of the water at a rapid speed and snickering when Jemma jumped.

 

Every now and then she got Skye back, once laying a potion of a different density over top of the water in the now pooled area of her basement and causing Skye’s hair to change pink once she touched the potion unawares.

 

Skye had sulked at her reflection until Jemma commented it almost fit her.

 

The strangest thing though was how often Skye stayed, watching Jemma create potions and mutter over her notes long after the sun had set.

 

“Skye,” She asked one day, taking a seat next to the rocks they had set around the pooled area and resting on one of the bigger ones, waiting for one of her potions to reach a boil, “How is you can always stay so long, I read that mermaids used to have to rejoin their families every night to regain a sort of strength, or is that all made up.”

 

Skye fiddled with a strand of her hair not meeting Jemma’s eyes and sighed, sinking into the water a bit.

 

“If you don’t want to talk about it you don’t have to, I was just curious. But if you do,” She reached out a little, her hand hovering over Skye’s where it rested in the water, “I’m always here to talk about it.”

 

She sat there a little longer, her hand just hardly touched Skye’s and was about to move when Skye began talking.

 

“I don’t have a pod to go home to. No one knows where I’m from, I went around asking almost a hundred different pods but none of them could answer me.” Skye sounded tired, defeated almost and Jemma wondered how long she had searched until she had given up. “No one’s ever seen powers like mine either. It’s all a mystery, I’m just all alone.”

 

Jemma was quiet, dropping her hand to take Skye’s, “I’m no mermaid Skye, or a pod of any kind, but I promise I won’t let you be alone. You’ll always have a place here.”

 

Skye had swam closer as Jemma talked, eerily reminiscent of the time they had almost kissed, she was just a hairsbreadth away when a smell made Skye sneeze and look confused.

 

“What on earth…” Jemma looked around for the smell that was making her sneeze now too, seeing her potion boiling over.

 

She scrambled up, grabbing the cauldron and getting it off the fireplace, fretting over the potion and seeing if anything could be salvaged.

 

She didn’t notice Skye watching her with a small smile on her face; she did however notice when Skye stayed the whole the night.

 

~~

 

Skye dumped the contents of the bag she had borrowed from Jemma on the basement floor, stones and shells and fish scales spilled out in front of her.

 

“Thank you Skye. Though maybe next time I can sort them while they’re in the bag.”

 

Skye was already lounging against the rocks, looking bored.

 

“Is everything all right Skye?” Jemma asked, frowning in worry at her friend.

 

Skye waved it off.

 

“I think I’m just feeling a little cooped up.”

 

“In the tunnel, we can try expanding it,” Jemma began, mind thinking of various ways to do so.

 

“No no, not the tunnel, in the water.”

 

That gave Jemma pause.

 

“You’re tired of the water?” She’d never heard of such a thing from a mermaid, though Skye was a little unusual.

 

“Don’t you ever get tired of the land?” Skye shot back and without meaning to the dreams she’d been having of being surrounded by water but breathing fine next to Skye crept into her mind.

 

“I suppose.” She said, a little distracted.

 

“Sometimes I dream about going on land.” Skye sighed.

 

Jemma listened carefully though something caught her eye, in the midst of the mess Skye had spilled out was a sparkling scale that didn’t look like it belonged to any fish.

 

In fact if she had to guess she’d think it belonged to Skye.

 

With that and Skye’s words echoing in her brain she began forming a brilliant idea.

 

~~

 

“This is going to give me legs?” Skye stared at the bottle incredulous, “This is what you’ve been working on and ignoring me for the past week?”

 

“I was not ignoring you. After all it’s hard to when you splash water at me all the time.”

 

“Maybe that’s just a mermaid custom.” Skye smirked. “Maybe I’m flirting with you.”

 

“Maybe you ought to do a better job then.” Jemma teased her.

 

Skye huffed, looking at the bottle in her hands again.

 

“You’re sure about this?” She asked, looking up at Jemma. “I mean this magic’s going to work?”

 

“It’s far more than magic Skye, it’s a carefully crafted potion with precise measurements.”

 

“What no pinches or dashes?”

 

“A pinch is not a proper way of measuring something I don't care that it 'sounds better'.” Jemma mimicked Skye’s voice as she said the last part; something Skye had said to her when she first watched Jemma write down measurements.

 

“Well it does.” Skye muttered, incorrigible as always. She looked between the potion and Jemma one last time and then raised it in a salute towards Jemma. “Here goes.”

 

Jemma held her breath as Skye drank it, watching her brilliantly coloured scales shrink though thankfully Skye didn’t look in pain.

 

She grasped Skye’s arm during the transformation, making sure Skye’s new legs didn’t suddenly cause her to drown and when it was done she helped pull Skye up, onto the land with her.

 

“You did it.” Skye was staring down at her legs that trembled in disuse. “You did it.”

 

“I did it.” Jemma repeated in equal awe, seeing Skye face to face on equal footing for once.

 

Skye took one step forward and nearly lost her balance but held her hand to stop Jemma when she went to help her, taking another breath and another tinier step.

 

She shuffled forward slowly, making her way towards Jemma and once she was right in front of her she wound her arms around Jemma’s neck.

 

“Hi,” Skye grinned, bumping into her so she was nearly resting entirely on Jemma.

 

“Hi,” Jemma grinned back only for it to fall a second later when she realized that Skye was completely naked, “Clothes!” She yelped, flushing and avoiding looking down then, “You need clothes, I think a dress would be the comfiest and I bought you several.”

 

“Jemma.” Skye almost sung her name, melodious and nearly as tempting as any siren call Jemma though. Her eyes softened when Jemma met her gaze, “Jemma.” She repeated again and then closed the gap between them complete.

 

It was almost and nothing at all like her dream all at once, undeniably Skye with the smell of the ocean in her every pore and taste of chocolate on her lips; it wasn’t cold like her dreams surrounded with water, wasn’t slow kisses traded in a calming surrounding but a hot and passionate and exactly what the heat between them needed to grow.

 

She pulled Skye in close and savour it, every tiny gasp from their lips, the graze of Skye’s teeth against her lower lip and the sparks of desire at every trembling brush of hips.

 

They tumbled to the floor, laughing at themselves and kissing a new with Skye tugging at her clothes and cursing into Jemma’s mouth at the design of them, swinging herself over top of Jemma in determination.

 

It was everything she had wanted for months, watching Skye with beautifully tanned skin and alluring eyes stare down at her with a wonder she had never seen anyone look at her with.

 

“Skye,” She gasped out, pulling the other woman back down onto her, sinking her hands into Skye’s silky hair that was still wet and clung to her fingers as though welcoming her attempts to keep Skye close.

 

“This won’t last forever.” She said, talking about the potion.

 

“We’ll make it work.” Skye shrugged.

 

~~

 

They went out later that night, Skye skipping along on more stable legs and laughing in delight at the new sensations from them.

 

“It’s too bad you can’t try a tail sometime.” She murmured sleepily against Jemma’s shoulder as they walked back.

 

Jemma pressed a kiss to her now dry hair, humming her agreement.

 

“You could come exploring with me.” Skye said, leaning even more against her and Jemma bet the potion was wearing off but they were luckily home. “It’s just too bad the ocean is for mermaids.” Skye slurred as she slipped back into the pool where her tail started to grow once more.

 

“Yes.” Jemma yawned, sitting next to the rocks and leaning against one, Skye lazily swimming towards her and resting on it to so their arms brushed. “The ocean is for mermaids.”

 

Jemma fell asleep with that thought and the dreams of underwater adventures with Skye.

 

~~

 

She woke with a blanket over her, Skye had insisted one be nearby after Jemma had fallen asleep a few times next to her pool listening to Skye sing.

 

Skye wasn’t there as she blearily opened her eyes, she had probably gone to get herself something to eat.

 

Jemma yawned, standing up and stretching and catching her reflection in the water below.

 

Like always it look calm and gentle; though she knew the truth.

 

“The ocean is for mermaids.” She muttered, frowning at the pool.

 

She walked over to her table where the other bottles of the potion she had made for Skye still lay; mixed with Skye’s scales and her blood though Skye didn’t know that.

 

She picked up one of the bottles, swirling it around and watching the shimmering liquid.

 

It was a bad idea, the one forming in her mind, a horrible idea really. She’s made the potion for mermaids after all, not humans…but if a human was to take it…

 

There should have been tests like the ones she ran before giving it to Skye, she should have documented it well and watched carefully for no repercussions but also…

 

The liquid was already down her throat before she was really thinking, making her gasp and stumble towards the pool.

 

Her hand slipped into the pool and just as the water seemed to like doing every time it tugged a little at her, making her want to give in.

 

For once she did, tumbling head first into the water.

 

Nothing happened at first, her air rapidly depleting and doubt forming in her mind, struggling to go back to the top of the pool that looked so far away now.

 

A blur of something sped towards her and as it got closer she could see Skye, panicking as she looked at Jemma and reaching out for her.

 

She pulled Skye to her, opening her mouth and giving up the last of her air but instead of sucking in water she only felt more air come in.

 

“Jemma?” Skye was swimming circles around her, “How did you…?” She gestured at Jemma in front of her, who instead of drowning with legs now was swimming with a sprouted tail.

 

“I was experimenting.” Jemma said.

 

“You.” Skye was deadpan. “You experimenting on yourself with nothing leading up to it. Okay this is crazy, you’ve gone crazy, we need to get you back.”

 

Skye pulled at her arm but Jemma started laughing, “Skye it’s all right. It’s like…I gave you legs. I gave myself scales. It’s not forever.”

 

Skye settled down in front of her, sliding her hand down from Jemma’s wrist to her fingers and twining their fingers together.

 

“Why?” Skye asked.

 

“I didn’t want you to be alone.” Jemma answered honestly and smiled crookedly, “And the ocean is for mermaids.”

 

Skye opened her mouth but shut it again with a click, swimming forward and pressing her lips to Jemma.

 

This was like her dreams, slow and with all the love that Skye possessed, the love that Jemma coveted and cherished all at once.

 

“So you magicked your way into it.” Skye teased when she pulled away, “All for me.”

 

Jemma wrinkled her nose, not wanting to correct Skye but also wanting to at the same time.

 

“I know I know,” Skye laughed before she kissed Jemma again, “There’s more to it than that.”

 

She might have pointed out just how much more there was too it if not for that kiss distracting her; but that was fine, she had more of Skye to discover now instead.


End file.
